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What's slowing down the AI buildout

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Re: What's slowing down the AI buildout

#101

Post by georgemcbay »

jon-wood wrote: post #94
bob1029 wrote: post #37

Project Kilby is probably the most intelligent approach to this problem so far. https://www.chevron.com/newsroom/2026/q2/chevron-signs-20-ye... The idea is to bring the data centers, power generators and energy supply together in the ~same physical space so the only thing you have to transmit is data. Moving energy is way more expensive than moving information.

Are you really saying that in 2026, a year when only the nuts are still trying to claim climate change isn’t a thing, the most intelligent approach to the problem of powering data centres that are mostly being built for the purpose of juicing share prices is gas turbines at an industrial scale? The most intelligent approach is to not build the things. The next most intelligent approach is solar and batteries nearby.…

You seem to be assuming the people proposing and making these decisions value the continuation of humanity over share prices.

What are you, some kind of a Luddite? (/s)

Re: What's slowing down the AI buildout

#102

Post by 59percentmore »

constantius wrote: post #57
dawnerd wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the person you replied to probably doesn’t realize spent nuclear fuel has really no where to go other than long term storage.

They probably are aware of nuclear waste and of the modalities of dealing with it, and still believe that not investing into nuclear is shooting yourself in the foot. FYI, a typical 1GW nuclear plant produces 30 tons, or 10m3, of high-level waste. Germany uses ~500TWh of electricity per year. So Germany could replace all their electricity generation with 60 nuclear plants and would need to find space for 1800 tons or…

How many tons does it take to make a dirty bomb that irradiates a city center or small downtown? To poison an aquifer when storage fails? How much does it cost to make sure neither of these events, or any other similar hypothetical, doesn't happen, not even once?

Re: What's slowing down the AI buildout

#103

Post by Terr_ »

asdff wrote: post #97
rconti wrote: post #68

Remember when we didn't have enough electricity for electric cars?

From the headline: >the problem is getting it where it's needed. Same issue with EV rollout. EVs are great if you have a single family home and a few grand to spend on outfitting a fast charger. Most apartment renters however are shit out of luck. I mean it has been how many years now of EV cars on the road and virtually no sweeping buildout of EV chargers in apartment complexes that I can see at least. There was a p…

There's definitely a gulf between living-situations, and people assuming their local experience is nationally representative.

I had a car-purchase decision a few years ago, and ultimately I had to choose based on the housing I had, not the housing I wish I had. It was frustrating to hear a lot of "you can just X" from folks who couldn't seem to imagine an apartment or chaotic street-parking.

Re: What's slowing down the AI buildout

#105

Post by Terr_ »

ecshafer wrote: post #95

The politicization of AI has been a huge damper. NYS put a 1 year moratorium on datacenters with some municipalities doing so as well. My town did a 1 year ban, despite us being a retarded location for a data center (more expensive land than surrounding areas, less water access, far from power). US has also been lagging in power capacity, because of the anti-growth segment of politics. More nukes.

> The politicization of AI

This should include the AI companies trying to sell their product to the government, suggesting it is a strategic asset in need of protectionism, and playing the PR game of "our product will let us own the world, we're so awesome you should be scared and invest."

Re: What's slowing down the AI buildout

#106

Post by [deleted] »

asdff wrote: post #97
rconti wrote: post #68

Remember when we didn't have enough electricity for electric cars?

From the headline: >the problem is getting it where it's needed. Same issue with EV rollout. EVs are great if you have a single family home and a few grand to spend on outfitting a fast charger. Most apartment renters however are shit out of luck. I mean it has been how many years now of EV cars on the road and virtually no sweeping buildout of EV chargers in apartment complexes that I can see at least. There was a p…

[deleted]

Re: What's slowing down the AI buildout

#107

Post by lostlogin »

Terr_ wrote: post #103
asdff wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the headline: >the problem is getting it where it's needed. Same issue with EV rollout. EVs are great if you have a single family home and a few grand to spend on outfitting a fast charger. Most apartment renters however are shit out of luck. I mean it has been how many years now of EV cars on the road and virtually no sweeping buildout of EV chargers in apartment complexes that I can see at least. There was a p…

There's definitely a gulf between living-situations, and people assuming their local experience is nationally representative. I had a car-purchase decision a few years ago, and ultimately I had to choose based on the housing I had, not the housing I wish I had. It was frustrating to hear a lot of "you can just X" from folks who couldn't seem to imagine an apartment or chaotic street-parking.

There is another sibling comment saying that it works just fine with charging at fast chargers.

I would find that irritating as it’s still time consuming - slow charging at home suits me, but as you say, requires a suitable home.

Re: What's slowing down the AI buildout

#109

Post by Mawr »

vrganj wrote: post #31
rayiner wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its only expensive because its been regulated to death. In terms of potential energy output in a given area its tops.

It's been regulated "to death" because it's responsible for some of the worst man-made catastrophes of all time and has made large swaths of land uninhabitable for ~forever. Move fast and break things this is not.

Hilarious hysterical nonsense.

Worst catastrophes? Pick any industrial accident with more than like 10 people killed and you've got nuclear beat. A single plane falls from the sky and you've outdone nuclear.

Large swaths of land? You mean a tiny part of Ukraine?

Keep breathing in the radioactive coal fumes in the air, those are good for you, actually.

Re: What's slowing down the AI buildout

#110

Post by bob1029 »

jon-wood wrote: post #94
bob1029 wrote: post #37

Project Kilby is probably the most intelligent approach to this problem so far. https://www.chevron.com/newsroom/2026/q2/chevron-signs-20-ye... The idea is to bring the data centers, power generators and energy supply together in the ~same physical space so the only thing you have to transmit is data. Moving energy is way more expensive than moving information.

Are you really saying that in 2026, a year when only the nuts are still trying to claim climate change isn’t a thing, the most intelligent approach to the problem of powering data centres that are mostly being built for the purpose of juicing share prices is gas turbines at an industrial scale? The most intelligent approach is to not build the things. The next most intelligent approach is solar and batteries nearby.…

The natural gas is already being flared off to protect the environment (CH4 is a much worse greenhouse gas than CO2).

The key with this project is that instead of wasting the thermal energy from this unused gas, we feed it into power plants that are constructed nearby, eliminating the need for new pipeline infrastructure and providing some actual value.

You could go on to argue the oil fields themselves should cease production. This is the only way to actually stop the methane coming out of the ground. Even then it wouldn't happen overnight.

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